This was the first route on the steep, southeast face of the Black Peeler. No bolts were placed on the first ascent; in fact, this route stayed bolt-free until the early 1980's. Although seldom done compared to the Peeler Direct, this natural line, which follows the principal weakness of the face, offers some great climbing. This route and especially the Peeler Direct became a rite of passage for all early aspiring aid climbers in the Wasatch...training ground for Yosemite.
P1: Climb a short, clean flake (5.10 or C1) to a large ramp. Hand traverse left and follow cracks to a hanging belay underneath a long narrow roof...great pitch. (You can also belay at the hand traverse, 2 pins). P2: Traverse right underneath the roof...the crack is wide and thin (C2/3 or 5.10+) to a belay on a sloping ledge at 2 bolts. P3: Shuffle right to a thin aid crack (don't fall here) and ascend this beauty to another ramp. Belay at its end (C1 or C2). P4: Climb a short groove to a steep hand/fist crack. Jam this to the top. (5.8 C1 or 5.10).
Rap bolts will be seen to the east. Two ropes are needed (160').
History
"First ascent was in late September, 1965 by Steve Ellsworth and Bill Conrod. On an earlier attempt with Ellsworth, we ran out of time and rappelled off, leaving a fixed rope. It was pitch dark when it was my turn to start the vertical rappel by stepping out of aid slings at a hanging anchor. Very scary.
"The next weekend we made the successful climb on a nice fall day, but the days were getting short and we were benighted at the top. Being young and inexperienced, we had no extra clothing so passed the night by intense shivering. It hit 29 degrees at the SLC airport. Fortunately for us, we were above the down-canyon draft and had the high metabolisms of youth.
"We aided most of the climb, and it was the hardest and most sustained aid route in the canyon at the time. Aid climbing still had a bit of a Yosemite-esque mystique."
—Bill Conrod
The first 2 pitches to the midway ledges were freed by Jim Donini and Mark Ward in the early 80's.
The first clean ascents were done in the late 70's.
Location
Use this ?Approach Map? to get you to the base. The approach is a little tough for the last few hundred feet.
Begin below and left of the prominent lower ramp.
Protection
Clean aid rack including wireds, offsets, cam hooks and sliders; mostly small stuff. A few big cams will also be needed.
I would like to add a little to bsmoot history. No one had even noticed Steve or Bill was missing until they showed up the next day. Gotta smile at that.
Thanks for checking in. Looks like you climbed the Bat Walk around the same time as Bill & Steves ascent of the BP. Do you know if the Black Peeler got done much in the 60's?
Brian.... I knew that Steve and Bill were nailing a wall up canyon so Lenny and I went to heckle. While there we decided to check out the rock and do some climbing. The area was new to me and I didn’t remember hearing anyone doing much up there. Lenny had picked out the route and named it Bat Walk. I don’t remember any aid work on the BW but do remember that I placed a bolt on the first switchback because I couldn’t find any protection in order to mantle off of the ledge. I don’t remember the Black Peeler ever got climbed again while I was in the canyon.
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